Shadow of the Evil God

"Actually, there is no need for me to take any other risks," Cesar said.

Diana raised her hand and ran it across his beard. “No, you always have, Cesar, so

That's why we're taking this path. It's the path where the chances of you wandering into the depths of darkness alone are minimal."

Cesar also reached out and hooked her slender chin, "But we still have to deal with Dong Ye's matter tomorrow," he said.

"I'll take care of this, including ensuring that Finnie smoothly accepts the gift from the past." She kissed his chest. "You should focus on government affairs."

"Why do you say that?"

"Although it's tedious and laborious, it won't leave you dead in an unknown corner, nor will it leave you spending hundreds or thousands of years in darkness. As for Ajeh and that Sevra, I'll also take care of their affairs. In the meantime, just be content to be a secular lord and noble, Cesar."

"I don't want you to bear this."

"We should have shouldered this together. You went too far alone," Diana said. "When I say it's done, you can ask me again. Do you understand?"

Cesar stroked her cheek, then leaned down and kissed her fingertips. "Of course, I understand, dear."

.......

"That's rare." Cesar yawned as he sat on a bench at the conference table. Of course, this wasn't the main conference room; it was reserved for more secretive guests. While he had no idea how to be a secular lord, he had always been adept at deceiving, making up numbers, and getting by. He'd been able to fight in battles just by picking up a tactical textbook from the military academy, so it wouldn't be a big deal if he were to take over now. "So, who sent you here to deliver the secret message?" he asked.

The two messengers looked at each other. "It's Lord Vermeer," the messenger on the left said. "Lord Vermeer deeply apologizes for all the unpleasantness that happened between you and him in Gonzales."

It's really rare. Cesar thought that the rebellious nobles who lost the support of the empire would hold on for a while longer, but he didn't expect them to panic before Garcia even arrived.

"I thought he sent here to scold me for being mean and shameless, since I'd seized his territory," Cesar said nonchalantly. "Do you think I should return Gonzales? His Majesty Evered hasn't been very kind to me lately. He might soon order the territories I've taken back."

"We dare not, sir," said the messenger on the right. "We all agree that all the territories you now occupy belong to you and your family. Not even Your Majesty has the right to interfere."

"Which family?" he asked.

"If you say it's the Borgia, then it's the Borgia. If you say it's the new family you and the Duke's daughter have formed, then we will unanimously celebrate and support your marriage, and support the ownership and power of this land."

"You've gotten a lot of information," Cesar said, smiling at the two. "So how should I respond? Should I send you some wedding invitations? You know I'm very busy here, too busy to even attend to the wedding, so please understand if the invitations don't specify the time and place."

"We're not here for an invitation, sir." The messenger on the left frowned, clearly fed up with his evasiveness. "The war is already at a stalemate, and your cousin has ill intentions. If we continue to lose ground, the pressure from the king and the family will fall on you!"

"So you came here to seek aid? But I'm still supporting His Majesty, both of you." Cesar tapped his fingers on the table. "You're southwest of Olidan, while I'm northeast of Olidan. Obviously, I'm closer to Garcia and the imperial reinforcements. In other words, if I don't behave now, the sword hanging over our heads will surely fall on me first."

The messenger on the left turned pale. "I know, but—"

"I think you should know what kind of army I was fighting before. I invested so much in Gural Fortress and endured such terrible torture, just to be able to sit here and discuss important matters with you. Can you smell the stench of blood in the fortress even to this day? Can you see the devastated land to the north of the fortress? That place was once full of forests and mines, but now it is like a poisonous swamp, with only a small path for caravans to pass through. Can you imagine how difficult it is for me now? You certainly can't imagine it. You only know that I am facing a huge threat."

Of course, there is also playing the victim.

Cesar took a stack of documents from the dog standing behind him and continued, "In short, I am also in trouble. I can't give you, or give Governor Vermeer, the support he wants. Troops? Supplies? Right? That's impossible. Not to mention that I can't give it. Even if I could, if Evered IV found out, my cousin would first attack my territory. But-"

The messenger on the right swallowed his saliva with uncertain anticipation. "But there are other ways to support us, aren't there, my lord? Isn't this our common destiny, our common cause? Don't you want to break free from the constraints of royal authority, divide its power into many pieces, and take the largest piece for yourself?"

Cesar leaned forward and said, "I know the context of this matter better than you do, so don't use it to tempt me, it's a matter of course. Let me tell you what you are missing now. The Great Temple of Sagaros is a group of idiots. Their minds are either murdering the top leaders or grasping at straws. What's the difference between them and you? You regard them as a lifeline, only to

The more you fight, the weaker you will become."

"I do not understand, my lord, but the Great Temple—"

"Don't tell me about the Great Temple! The Great Temple almost strangled me in some dark corner no one knew about before! Go tell Vermeer that I have a more sophisticated way to disrupt order in Evered IV's territory, but it may not be as effective as Garcia's army. To make it burn faster, you must cooperate with me in military operations, do you understand?"

Chapter 510: Man and Snake, Snake and Man

......

It must be said that the passage of time also has its own differences. When Cesar really put aside worldly affairs, he suddenly realized that more than a month had passed. He had done so much before, but looking back, only a few days had passed.

He didn't know what happened to Diana's mother, nor did he know where Sephora went after she stabbed him with the fatal sword. He didn't ask about Ajeh's recent disappearances, and he didn't even pay attention to what Altiniya was thinking after she knew about Mirava's past.

Having left so many troubles behind, I feel a bit lazy.

However, Firth was actually a bit taller, something she'd discovered during their nighttime struggles, engaging in some unsightly positions. Even now, she still relied on her body's invariance to live her life as she pleased. After receiving the gift of the past, her mental illness hadn't improved. Instead, it had only intensified, as Firth was doing the same thing. She'd soon discover the harm her actions were causing.

Cesar still remembered that in his residual memory, Ferriers relied on spells to survive because of her extreme lifestyle. She seemed to be able to walk freely outside, but once the talismans on her body were gone, she would probably be paralyzed in bed.

I'm afraid the same thing will happen to Phils.

With this thought, he pulled the dessert from Firth's bag and devoured it in front of her. Then he examined the report Green Snake had presented. The Snake Walker quickly adapted to her new role. After receiving her first batch of goods, she quickly established a social circle in several cities of Olidan. Of course, during her rise to power, many mysterious murders occurred, but Olidan was already rife with war, making it difficult to track her down.

After eating the dessert under Phils's wide-eyed gaze, Cesar flipped through Green Snake's summary of the local workers' situation.

Most of the workers just wanted to get by. After all, it was wartime, and being able to keep their lives and have something to eat was already a great achievement.

But it was, after all, a branch of the Sagaros sect, a religious faction that had persisted in darkness for over a thousand years, and few were better at organizing gatherings and preaching their beliefs. Furthermore, all it took was a small number of people to harbor discontent, which intensified over time, for anger and anxiety to be unleashed in destructive ways.

Following Cesar's military plan, the noble coalition launched their attack, focusing on the first area of ​​rioting. They quickly captured the fortress, where warehouses were engulfed in flames and workshops had been paralyzed for days. They then advanced deeper into the city. The previously stalemated situation improved, and the enemy, sensing success, quickly dispatched more envoys and offered even greater promises.

Back then, the coalition of nobles in Olidan had accused him of being an ignorant outsider, but now they were trying to co-opt him into the highest level of the council. While Cesar would eventually travel north in the name of Altinia to support her in building her ideal Central Empire, it wouldn't hurt to secure a seat. If all else failed, Diana could take the seat; it made no difference who sat there.

With this relationship, he could connect Olidan with the north, using his current territory as a crucial transit zone. This relationship would be even closer than the current one between Dominion and the southeastern empire.

The premise is that he can win the war.

The scale of war is no longer limited to a city or a place. There are no more corpse eaters hunting, abnormal movements of the abyss tides, and even no struggles between schools of spells. Things can no longer take shortcuts like in the past.

This was essentially a secular war, and on a massive scale. Victory through surprise, as in Gonzales, was not to be expected, especially with the now-renowned Garcia leading the charge. The army supporting Evered IV was a battle-hardened mix of mercenaries, the Dominican Kingdom, and the Casar Empire.

Cesar's current plan was to exploit the fact that this army wasn't fighting on home soil and attack the Kingdom of Olidan's logistics and armaments, dragging them into the mud pit he had created and smearing them with filth. In this era of war transition, people hadn't yet grasped the crucial importance of stable logistics. Local supply—or rather, local looting—was still the method of supply for most armies.

This foresight would not last long, but he did not expect it to last long - as long as it could be used in the next few years and he could use it as an important bargaining chip.

Regardless, Garcia had already entered the capital with imperial officials to discuss suppressing the rebellion. The mercenaries who arrived first were collaborating with the army previously commanded by Sayno in launching an offensive. With more troops still to come, they had the opportunity to influence the battle situation first.

While he was lost in thought, Cesar, carrying Fils, had vanished from the fortress's magic circle and entered a fleet bound for western Olidan. Gouzi was waiting in the hold, holding a sharp blade inlaid with a secret stone. It was a cargo ship, laden with a new shipment of goods acquired by the Green Snake. It was said to be spices from the deserts north of Dominion, but no one knew how they came from, and Cesar didn't intend to inquire.

In addition, the Snake Walker intended to sell spices at a low price, which was not approved by the Olidan Spice Guild and was undoubtedly a challenge to their authority and order. However, the Green Snake said that she was very good at overcoming these troubles and there was no need to worry. Cesar did not intend to ask how she would overcome them. How she operated was her own business. He only

Want results.

The ship was nearing port. The torrential rain continued, but the sweltering heat persisted. The cargo ship's cabin was cramped, and the final stretch was a turbulent, damp, and sweltering journey, a sweltering experience. Phils, clutching a bundle of mats, collapsed to the ground, like a corpse, mumbling plaintively. But they had already teleported here. With Phils's current abilities, a stable return would require gnawing at his neck and drinking several mouthfuls of his blood.

Regardless, Cesar had come to Evered IV's most important port city to oversee and handle its secret affairs. Using a teleportation spell directly into the city was too dangerous; the spell's traces were too obvious, and the intense aftermath would easily be noticed by anyone with a vigilant mage. In short, entering the city aboard a merchant ship was the most effective and safest method.

As for being on the boat and bumping along with them, forget it.

Just as Firth was about to dissolve into a puddle, the voyage ended, and the cargo ship, laden with spices, approached the crowded dock. Green Snake conversed with the port officer, while the real crew and the fake crew of the Sagaros branch of the sect maneuvered anchors, cast ropes, furled sails, and lowered sturdy planks to the shore amidst the gradually easing rain. The port's porters eagerly rushed aboard.

Cesar, in his rough sailor's clothes, threw the rope, and Phils swayed behind him, about to fall headfirst. Then, she pressed her hands to her chest and came back to life by the rune lines carved into her body.

"Is this how it's used?" Cesar asked, "or to put it more bluntly, is this what you're doing with your past gifts?"

"How else can it be used?" Firth muttered in her cook's clothes. "It will be used the same way it was used a thousand years ago."

Cesar shook his head. He'd been deeply moved by Ferriers's gift to his future self, but now it felt like he was just passing on his own stretcher and IV. Ferriers wasn't even close to collapse, but already walking with an IV drip attached—it was truly unspeakable.

The green snake returned to the boat and took a closer look at Phils. "It's surprising that it's so small," she said, then extended her hand to Cesar as if greeting a sailor, asking him to bend down and kiss her fingertips.

This snake was truly obsessed with collecting some profit. Of course, it wasn't entirely her fault. To her, her current situation was no different from that of a human operating a stable among a herd of animals. Although she dressed in a dazzling, human-like fashion, attracting attention, she was actually just adorning the fake human skin she was wearing.

Snake Walker does not identify with his own human appearance, nor does he identify with Cesar's human appearance.

Their bodies were intertwined before. For Cesar, it was like he was having sex with a creature that was half human and half snake. For her, it was like a human having sex with an animal, and she was the human and he was the animal.

"She was very young when I met her." Cesar stood on the deck, gazing at the city, and couldn't help but think of Neuen. Though lacking the mining industry, this city was not much different from Neuen. Built on a mountainside, the terrain was high and steep. Looking up from the harbor, the city's structure resembled a spring, descending from the central castle spire downwards in layers, forming an ancient circular structure. The outer walls on land were renovated with bastions, making a direct breakthrough almost impossible. However, there were other less direct approaches.

"I heard that several years ago, you defended a similar port city," the green snake said. "Have you decided to do it again now, my prophet master, and attack another port city from the inside?"

"I didn't promise anything like that," Cesar said. "I'm just here to check on your situation and get in touch with the envoys sent to the city by the Noble Alliance. If all goes well, we might be able to paralyze some areas within the city. As for capturing them, that's the Noble Alliance's job."

"Is that so?" The green snake appeared unconcerned, leaning against the railing and casually gazing out at the harbor, her expression like a farmer gazing at a corral. It had to be admitted that this fellow was also a danger; her gaze, as if she were examining the corral, was genuine. If he wanted to use it properly, he would have to be more cautious. "To be honest, you're small in my eyes, too," she added.

"What do you mean?" Cesar looked back.

"Do you feel whether my snake body is big or small when you look at it?"

"I can't feel it. It's just the body of the snake."

"Yes, you judge my youth and beauty by my human skin, and I judge you by the tentacles that appear when you tear your body apart. They are like a group of tiny, lovely snakes with beautiful red eyes and lovely mouths, entangled with their tiny fangs and begging for pleasure and comfort. Do you understand what I mean?"

"Do you see my human body the same way I see your snake body..." Cesar said, and he saw Phils' eyes widen, clearly having some horrifying imagination. He pondered the green snake's vision. Switching perspective, it was as if he had sprouted a bunch of tiny human children from his half-snake body, huddled together in hundreds, satisfying her natural instincts...

"Oh, you thought of it, isn't it wonderful?" She smiled. Considering the habit of snakes to mate in groups, he could be said to have played the role of a single person...

"You'd better stop talking." Cesar ordered himself to stop imagining, lest he

An increasingly terrifying scenario formed in his mind. "Also, once your caravan grows larger, I can consider having you contact the banker in Clifas."

"You actually still remember this? I almost forgot about it."

"The north is also important," Cesar said. "If the economic order in Clifas collapses, his territory can be used as a springboard to connect with the steppe people. We can also disrupt his plans now to prevent another attack from there from affecting our affairs in Olidan."

Chapter 511 Is This Love?

As the ship gradually came to a stop, Fils felt more inclined to stay aboard. She soon leaned over the edge, gazing out at the port city of Atlantis. It seemed her claim of wanting to ride on a boat was genuine; she simply wanted to ride on a stable vessel, on waters without a single wave. Ideally, one so stable that you could place an egg on top of the shield without it falling.

Cesar hugged the girl's petite body from behind and lowered his head to smell the damp sweat on the back of her neck. When his tongue licked it, it was slippery and sticky, and the subtle saltiness just overwhelmed the sweetness. He had to lick from the side of her neck to her shoulder, then closed his eyes and took in the body odor emanating from her. Of course, this was all because of the overly sweet dessert she brought.

The heavy rain subsided and the sun gradually became brighter. With Phils's increased heartbeat and rising body temperature, fine beads of sweat soon appeared on her body.

Cesar had been following the rules too much recently and wanted to pursue some secret desires. At this moment, the girl's body trembled in his arms, her cheeks flushed, and her body odor became more and more obvious, and his interest became more and more intense.

"Stop licking, there are too many people here." She muttered softly, "At least we should be in the carriage, right?"

"I can't hear what you're saying," Cesar said, sucking her neck. "Your scent is already making me faint. I'm going to do more than just lick you later."

Just now, when he had kissed and sucked on Phils's shoulders, her scent lingered in his nostrils. Now his lips were soaked with the sweat from her skin, so he could no longer bear it. He lifted her skirt, put his hand in, and patted her snow-white buttocks.

Almost immediately after the crisp slapping sound was heard, Firth cast the spell. Two or three boatmen carrying cargo passed by behind them. Someone heard the sound, turned around and looked around, but saw nothing. He shook his head, as if he thought he was sunburned.

The green snake looked at them. "Is this some kind of secret desire? What's the meaning?"

"It doesn't need to make any sense." Cesar said nonchalantly, "What are you going to do next? How are those Sagaros followers doing?"

The Snake Walker pondered.

He caressed the soft buttocks in his palm. Although Phils pursed her lips and suppressed her panting, her waist couldn't help but bend down, and her butt instinctively tilted back, pressing against his palm. The two closed petals were already covered with dew, wet and sticky, even soaking a large area of ​​the lining underneath.

Cesar gripped her buttocks, ripped open her lining, lifted her skirt, and thrust right into her soaking wet little hole. Due to the humid heat and her frail constitution, her path was not only soaking wet but also extremely sticky, hot and tight, as if she had just walked through a steamer. Her lips swelled like opened peaches, tightly wrapped around it, practically sucking it in.

"Don't... I feel dizzy too." Phils spoke haltingly, "I can't..."

"No," Cesar said, "you clearly sucked it in yourself. I just put it there."

"I didn't do this! It's him. He doesn't listen to me!"

"It doesn't listen to me on my side either," Cesar whispered to her in a low voice.

"I-What are we talking about?"

Having plunged to the bottom so quickly, Firth could barely speak. More and more boatmen carrying cargo passed behind her. She cast spells but remained terrified. Her eyes darted around in panic, and she longed to find a pit to bury herself in. The more nervous she became, the tighter her hot, wet path tightened, like a small mouth filled with sticky saliva desperately sucking, occasionally oozing out a trickle of liquid.

"First, support the local businesses oppressed by the Spice Guild," Green Snake said. "It's said that Olidan has imitated Noyen's methods of operation. While this has yielded some results, it has also created some enormous and bloated interest groups."

"What's the difference from old Sean's?" Cesar asked her.

"Sean's rule in Noien is too solid," Green Snake said. "No one can shake his position, and no one dares to disobey his orders, let alone act recklessly in the city. In Noien, the business environment of various guilds is extremely free, and the power of nobles in other places can be almost ignored. However, Atlantis is different. The interests here are extremely complicated, involving many nobles and factional struggles in the Kingdom of Olidan. Governors have been replaced one after another, and some have even died in mysterious circumstances without anyone daring to ask about them."

"Then I have to say, Atlantis is also quite free. This is what happens when you allow chambers of commerce and banks to grow unchecked. The local gangs that receive funding become their thugs, even their army."

Cesar thrust forward several times as he spoke. Phils covered her mouth tightly to prevent the sound from being heard, but her body kept shaking and water was gurgling out from under her.

The green snake began to think again.

"It's already filled, filled up, don't go in anymore, you... owl!" The sound in Phils's throat became increasingly unbearable. Her back arched, her head tilted back, and her flaxen hair fluttered behind her. There was a clear kiss mark on her shoulder, where he had just sucked it.

"You couldn't even squeeze it in at first. Now you can swallow it on your own. Don't you think it's amazing that such a large object can fit into such a narrow path?

"

Cesar caressed the kiss marks on Phils's shoulder, then reached down to grab her erect nipples, tugging at her hardened nipples. He rubbed them, then lifted them forward, drawing a beautiful arc. Her reaction intensified. Not only was her chest soaked with sweat, almost impossible to hold, but sweat also seeped from behind her hips, staining a large area of ​​his lower abdomen.

"By the way, when you said that no one would care if someone died inexplicably," he turned his head and glanced at Qingshe, "are you saying that if you cause someone to die inexplicably, no one will care?"

"It depends on the conflicts within the city," Green Snake said. "As long as I cleverly intervene in areas where conflicts already exist, it will be difficult to blame me for the deaths."

"It sounds like you're not here to trade, but to intensify the bloodshed," Cesar said.

"Do you think I have any interest in business?" she asked. "I traveled around to provoke riots and intensify bloodshed, not to open up trade routes."

"Then what's the point?"

The green snake gazed at the ring-shaped city rising like a spring, seemingly lost in thought. "In the past, this might not have meant much, but in this era, I seem to be able to discern hidden truths through the frequent bloodshed. The order of your human world is changing, and the more bloodshed there is, the more pronounced this change becomes."

"You are becoming more and more like the wizard in the prehistory of the Kasar Empire," Cesar said.

"Resemble?" The green snake frowned slightly. "Even if I really do resemble the wizards in the prehistory of the Kasar Empire, it must be because you first resembled that real dragon, my prophetic master. If you hadn't sent me here, I might still be concentrating on studying magic theory in some library."

The library's master, Zavulon, Cesar thought, and the crazy wizard organizations that were closely related to him. Did he promise to meet with him once a year? Yes, but the deadline is still a while away, so there is no need to worry yet.

The summer temperature was rising, and their body temperatures were also rising sharply. Phils's consciousness was becoming more and more confused, and she could hardly cover her mouth. She wanted to push away Cesar's hand that was kneading her chest, but Cesar grabbed her hand and kneaded it harder.